Both weighing slightly over two pounds, the Gjocaj twins became Windsor’s first babies of 2012 just minutes after midnight.

At 12:06 and 12:08, Din and Gerald were born at Windsor Regional Hospital 10 and a half weeks early.

The boys, who are named after their grandfathers, are in incubation in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Their 24-year-old parents Heather and Leke rushed to the hospital Saturday at 11:30 p.m.

A half hour later, they had two small bundles of joy.

“They’re just so tiny and precious,” Leke said the first time he laid eyes on his boys.

The twins received care packages from W.E. Care for kids as a traditional welcome for the first baby of the year.

]]>http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/twins-welcome-in-the-new-year-as-windsors-first-newborns/feed0winstarpearce20120101-141946.jpgTolchinskiy surprised that he’s a video sensationhttp://blogs.windsorstar.com/sports/hockey/tolchinskiy-surprised-that-hes-a-video-sensation
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/sports/hockey/tolchinskiy-surprised-that-hes-a-video-sensation#commentsSun, 01 Jan 2012 17:22:17 +0000http://blogs.windsorstar.com/?p=14103]]>Many of the players here for the current World Under-17 Hockey Challenge are just beginning to make a name for themselves in the hockey world, but thanks to a little playful fun one afternoon in his basement, Russian forward Sergei Tolchinskiy already has a presence.

“Some hockey tricks?” Tolchinskiy asks when queried about the YouTube video that he put together. “Three years ago, I was sick and had a lot of free time. I was playing with a stick, and this came to my mind, to make a video like that.”

The video created by the 16-year-old Russian with the magical puck skills has been viewed 929 times on YouTube – not viral by any means, but certainly a far more significant total that Tolchinskiy ever imagined when he filmed the footage. In fact, he was stunned when media questioned him about it upon his arrival in Windsor.

“When I was first asked about the video, I’d actually forgot about it,” Tolchinskiy said. “I didn’t think about it. I thought only 20 players from my team would see it. I didn’t know it would go that far.”

It appears that the Russian team will go as far in this tournament as goaltender Nikita Serebryakov can carry them. He stopped 51 shots in their 3-2 win over the favoured United States in Russia’s opening game.

“He plays great when he has a lot of shots in the game,” Russian coach Sergei Suryakov said. “That’s one of the reasons why we chose him to play that game, and it was the right decision.”

The wide-open, fast-paced brand of hockey played on this side of the world is the preferred style of game for the Russian netminder.

“This is my style of game – lots of shots and rebounds – the Canadian style of game,” Serebryakov said.

Tolchinskiy summed up his team’s opinion of their goalie. “He is the best of the best,” Tolchinskiy said

Added Russian forward Yevgeni Zakurin: “With a goalie like that, you can go on the quick attack against the other team and know that you can rely on your goalie.”